Could Aaron Rodgers follow in Brett Favre’s footsteps one final time, become Vikings QB in 2025? |Max Sporty|

Future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers went out of his way to live his NFL career differently than his Hall of Famer, Green Bay Packers predecessor Brett Favre. However, he may soon have the opportunity to fully track Favre’s career.

Favre is the NFL’s all-time interception leader, having thrown 508 passing touchdowns to 336 interceptions. Rodgers has gone out of his way to avoid turnovers, and he mostly has, recording the best touchdown to interception ratio in NFL history (4.39) with 492 passing touchdowns to 112 interceptions. Favre infamously stepped up with his eventual replacement in Rodgers after the latter was selected in the first round of the 2005. NFL Draftand Rodgers made sure he dealt with his eventual replacement Jordan Love, who backed him up for three seasons after being selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, with kindness and respect.

The former teammates and all-time greats have a lot in common when it comes to their careers: both have won at least three NFL MVPs (three for Favre and four for Rodgers) and one Super Bowl in their tenures as Packers starting quarterbacks. Both were traded to the New York Jets after becoming dissatisfied with the Green Bay front office when the organization made it clear it wanted to move on to its first-round pick backups.

Following Rodgers’ disappointing season in 2024, he now has a chance to follow in Favre’s footsteps one last time: he can become the Minnesota Vikings quarterback for the final stop of his 20-plus-year NFL career after one full, disappointing season when the Jets start. quarterback

This may sound crazy, but let’s go step by step on how this shocking possibility could become a reality and why it would make sense.

Step 1: The Jets release Rodgers at the end of the season

With New York firing general manager Joe Douglas on tuesday, their next general manager and head coach probably won’t enjoy starting their new regime with a 41-year-old quarterback they didn’t pick coming off what could end up as a future hall of famer’s worst season. A distinguished career. New York it does the it makes the most sense for the Jets, in that scenario, to simply release Rodgers and eat the $49 million dead cap that comes with such a transaction. SportsNet New York reports that the Jets would like to part ways with Rodgers at the end of the season. The Packers took a $40 million cap hit on their 2023 salary cap and reached the NFC Divisional Round of the postseason, so that’s not necessarily a death sentence.

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Step 2: The Vikings decide not to re-sign Sam Darnold to a multi-year deal after the best season of his career

Sure, Sam Darnold leads the NFL with 14 turnovers this season, but he’s produced career bests in completion percentage (67.9%), passing yards per game (238.7) and passer rating (100.0) in 2024. Besides, he’s just going to. will be 28 in 2025, meaning some team without a quarterback will pay to acquire his services when he hits. free agency next March.

It wouldn’t make sense for the Vikings to commit to Darnold long-term with the 10th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, Michigan’s JJ McCarthy, waiting in the wings. McCarthy is also different than Rodgers was behind Favre and Love was behind Rodgers: he’s not just developing quietly behind the scenes. McCarthy is in the midst of recovering from a second knee surgery this season. He tore his meniscus in the preseason, and he needed a second operation on his right knee to help combat swelling that started in the knee after McCarthy stepped up his physical therapy regimen.

Step 3: The Vikings decide to bring in a veteran bridge QB with McCarthy coming back from a serious knee injury

Minnesota originally signed Darnold this past offseason to serve as a bridge quarterback in the event McCarthy didn’t start immediately and so he could have a veteran mentor. It would be understandable for them to bring another veteran into their quarterback room in the event that there are further hiccups with McCarthy’s recovery. Knee injuries with young, top-10 quarterbacks aren’t something to play around with: just ask 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III about that.

Step 4: Rodgers officially decides to continue playing football

Rodgers himself said, “I think so,” when asked if he still wanted to play football in 2025. Why does he still want to keep playing when he has accomplished everything the NFL has to offer from league MVPs, to winning the Super Bowl and winning a Super Bowl MVP?

No one may have a better understanding of what drives Rodgers than his favorite target Davante Adams, who has caught more receiving touchdowns (69) from the mercurial quarterback than any other player has. This is what motivates Rodgers to keep grinding for at least another year despite a worst-case scenario season.

“He’s accomplished a lot, obviously, but I think he’s driven by not being able to win multiple Super Bowls,” Adams. said, via ESPN. “He won one, but he was in situations where he had the opportunity to almost taste it, almost touch it. Not being able to secure a championship at a higher rate is something that, I won’t say, bothers him, but it. motivated him to continue at that old age.”

Step 5: Rodgers signs with the Vikings in free agency in 2025

The 2025 NFL free agency quarterback class is thinning out quickly after Darnold and Rodgers. Zach Wilson, Jacoby Brissett, Marcus Mariota, Andy Dalton, Drew Lock, Jarrett Stidham, Justin Fields, Joe Flacco and Jameis Winston are the best of the rest.

None of them can provide the Hall of Fame experience that Rodgers can. Additionally, Rodgers is driven to play for a place he feels he can win. Throwing the football to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson should be enough to entice him along with defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ top 10 defense. There is also a scheme familiarity between Rodgers and Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. Like Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, with whom Rodgers won back-to-back NFL MVPs in 2020 and 2021, O’Connell comes from the Shanahan-McVay coaching tree. LaFleur worked as quarterbacks coach under Shanahan and as McVay’s first offensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. O’Connell also worked as McVay’s Rams offensive coordinator for two seasons from 2020 to 2021.

Both LaFleur and O’Connell run variations of a Shanahan scheme built around motion, lining up under center, high play-action usage and a zone blocking scheme. One year with Rodgers in Minnesota could help McCarthy’s development from both a health and football IQ perspective, and Rodgers could allow Minnesota to play a similar, winning brand of football while committing fewer turnovers than Darnold. Aside from his mobility being what it once was, playing in vanilla, an outdated offensive scheme is one of the biggest things holding Rodgers back this season. He and O’Connell could only be an ideal match for 2025, and then McCarthy could be fully ready to go in 2026.

Plus, Rodgers is known for holding grudges, so he certainly still feels like he has a score to settle with Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst. Having the opportunity to play the Packers twice in 2025 would allow him to scratch that itch, and fulfill his destiny as Brett Favre 2.0.